ArticlesReader.com Menu
Newest Articles
Most Viewed Articles
ArticlesReader.com RSS
Submit Article
Login
Signup
Search the articles

Articles Main Categories
Advice
Animals
Automobiles
Business
Career
Communications
Computer Programming
Computers
Entertainment
Environment
Family
Fashion
Finance
Food
Health & Medical
Home & Garden
Humor
Internet Business
Internet Marketing
Legal
Leisure & Recreation
Marketing
Other
Politics
Reference & Education
Religion
Self Improvement
Sports
Technology & Science
Travel
Writing
Subscribe
Receive alert message from us when new articles submitted to our site for free.

Enter your name

Enter your email

Syndicate

















Related Products
Home::Legal

DNA Testing Breaks New Ground for Courts

Author : Avi Lasarow
DNA testing has three major applications for forensic studies: identification of missing persons; identification of victims of wars, accidents, and natural disasters; and crime investigation. Annually, more than 20,000 forensic DNA tests are performed in the UK. Two out of three of all criminal cases using DNA evidence involve sexual assault, the rest are cases dealing with burglary, murder, and other types of violent crime. During the last 15 years, http://www.dna-bioscience.co.uk/glossary/DNA-profiling.shtml">DNA trial analysis became an indispensable police tool in fighting crime because it allows unambiguous identification of the criminal by traces of biological material left at the crime scene. It can also acquit innocent suspects based on DNA evidence.

Criminal justice system now relies heavily on DNA-based evidence. Since it was first used in the Enderby murder case (1986), thousands of perpetrators has been convicted of various crimes with the help of DNA evidence, and hundreds wrongfully convicted people have been exonerated

The most common samples collected at the crime scene are blood, semen, and saliva; virtually any biological material or objects handled by a perpetrator can be now used for forensic DNA testing. Clothing, furniture, and other items which may have traces of DNA, are now routinely used for obtaining DNA evidence. The technology is so sensitive that it allows identification of a person by analysing DNA collected from a fingerprint left on the surface of an object or from a single hair left at a crime scene.

When a crime scene sample or a sample from a suspect is analysed, a DNA profile is produced. A DNA profile is a digitalised representation of an individual’s genotype with respect to the DNA markers tested. In the UK, all crime scene DNA profiles together with those of all suspects and arrestees for any recordable offence are deposited into a National DNA Database (NDNAD), which is the world’s first criminal DNA database. As of 2004, the UK national DNA database held over two and a half million DNA profiles collected from suspects and convicted criminals which is estimated to be about 40% of UK criminally active population as well as more than 200,000 crime scene samples. UK Police use the NDNAD as an investigative tool to help solving a wide range of crimes including murder, rape, sexual assault, robbery, terrorism, burglary and arson and have almost doubled their clearance rate for volume crimes such as house burglary, and motor vehicle offences. As each new subject sample profile is added to the database, it is checked against all contained crime scene sample. When a new crime scene sample profile is added, it is checked against DNA profiles of all suspected individuals as well as against other crime scene sample records. Since its inception in 1995, the NDNAD had matched more than 200,000 crime scene samples to suspects and more than 20,000 crime scene samples to other crime scenes. Every week more than 300 crime scene samples are matched to the suspect and convicted criminal’s database.

However, a DNA match between a suspect and a crime scene does not automatically guarantee a conviction. DNA evidence is just another piece of evidence, although very strong one, and on its own is often not enough to convict someone of a particular crime. DNA evidence must always be taken in conjunction with other pieces of evidence and the weight of DNA evidence is impossible to estimate without taking into account the circumstances of the case. Even when a strong match between a defendant and a crime scene sample is presented by the prosecution, non-DNA evidence may be pointed to someone else as the real perpetrator of the crime. This “other” evidence can decrease the weight of DNA evidence and increase the chances of successful defence.

The discovery of DNA fingerprinting 20 years ago had revolutionised the legal profession. Criminal and non-criminal justice systems were handed a very powerful tool to solve crime and resolve civil cases. Understanding how DNA testing can be applied in legal profession will bring benefits to both lawyers and their clients.


About the Author

Avi was awarded the prestigious Shell Live Wire Entrepreneur of the Year award in 2004. Working closely with the charities and various media outlets, Avi strives to increase public awareness as to the benefits of http://www.dna-bioscience.co.uk">DNA testing and the continuing impact that technological advances will have on all our lives.

Spam emails More free articles

Related articles


  1. Litigation Funding Is Here To Stay
  2. Why Probate?
  3. Deeds of Variation - Are They Justified?
  4. School Bus Mishaps
  5. Cases Involving Defective Products
  6. You and the Tort Law: A Guide
  7. What To Do If Your Disability Case is Denied
  8. Quadriplegia: Victims Seeking Legal Help
  9. Injuries Sustained from Accidents on Boats
  10. Set Aside Foreclosure and Decree and Motion for New Trial
  11. Contesting a Will or a Trust. Can it Be Done?
  12. Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Basics
  13. The Revokable Trust: Is it Really Revocable?
  14. Innovators: How To Turn Your Dreams Into Reality
  15. How to Patent Your Invention
  16. Virginia Workers Compensation for the Injured Worker
  17. The Secret To Protecting Your Business Assets
  18. Resolve Disputes With Your Partners Before They Happen
  19. The Business of Identity Theft
  20. How to Respond After Identity Theft Occurs
  21. Five Steps To Full Compensation For Your Personal Injury Claim
  22. Why Even A Simple Contract Can Save Your Bacon
  23. Information Linking Vioxx to Workers Compensation
  24. Workers Compensation - Know Your Rights
  25. Why Your Business Needs a Dispute Resolution Procedure
More related feeds
PhysOrg Newsletter Tuesday, Sep 30
A paper published in the current issue of the International Journal of Environment and Pollution, explains how a DNA test can be used to detect harmful algal blooms across the globe. The approach outlined could help reduce the economic ...

PhysOrg Newsletter Thursday, Oct 9
Britain's post-war baby boomers, associated throughout their lives with social change, are failing to break new ground in their approach to growing old. Full story at http://www.physorg.com/news142748693.html ...

Books : The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
on the history of the Jefferson political scandal, I anticipated much new material. Ms. Gordon-Reed does not break new ground, but plows and replows the fields of Race, Class and Sex for 662 pages. Historical characters whom I got to ...

FRIDAY OCTOBER 10, 2008
In a study reported Friday in the Journal of Fish Biology, scientists said DNA testing proved that a pup carried by a female Atlantic blacktip shark in the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center... Jolie apparently breastfeeding on W ...

RE: Cancer Cures and Supression
All of this is evidence in Fed Court and Cedars admitted to doing the testing but played down the Over 99% efficacy they demonstrated. Cedars successfully kept away from the jury the success of human trials at USC. ...

News Clips
Hochedlinger and his team circumvented this problem by delivering the genes using adenoviruses, which do not insert their viral DNA into a cell's chromosomes. iPS cells generated by this new approach appear indistinguishable from other ...

In DC - Business as Usual - A DNA Thing!
Is the growing prospect of an Obama presidency going to result in a quick testing of his resolve? (See 1 below.) It is always in the fine print. From 3 pages to about 400 the new "Bail Out Bill" is an early Christmas Tree full of ...

New York Bills
This is a place holder for when I do get around to updating this sites bills. Just look at the number of bills here! And also click the Other links below. How in the world can anybody understand and obey this many laws? Give me a break! ...

Keeping pregnant women under house arrest in Malta
They should be keeping their finger on the public pulse – and by that, I mean keeping their ear to the ground, and not polling blanket groups of citizens. It is as though the summer break taken by Gift of Life has given enough time for ...

Criminal Justice: Introduction to Forensic Science Midterm Review ...
Results admissible in court. Usually used after presumptive testing. Types of presumptive tests:. Gas Chromatography—Mass Spectrum. FTIR (IR instrument). 72. Chromatography. Chromatography widely used in forensic analysis ...

 

 

© 2007 articlesreader.com - All Rights Reserved